My first brisket - The results are in

[Subvet]

Overall I was pleased with the results. Here is the Good and the Bad as I see it for my first cook:

Good - The flat was very flavorable, tender and juicy. Sliced very easily
Bad - I used too much salt in the rub and the bark was so salty we had to slice that off of each piece. I used a 60/40 Kosher Salt/Pepper rub. 1/2 tsp salt per pound (10.7 lbs).

Good - The Open Range held its temperature from 250-270 for 6 hours with little effort on my part to make any adjustments to the dampner. It ran away once to 270 for some reason.

Bad - The point was undercooked. This is a situation I don't understand how to fix. The probe was in the middle of the flat and when the IT got to 205 I took it off the smoker and put the brisket in a cooler and let it rest for 1.5 hours. When I sliced the point it still had a little blood like fluid between the cap fat and the meat. Should I have just separated it from the flat and put back on the smoker and wait until it got to 205 too?  If I had the probe in the point like I did initially the flat would have been overdone if I had waited until it reached 205.

I kept notes on the smoke for future reference. I've included it here as it might be of help to another newbie like me.

6:35am   Lit charcoal
7:15am   Smoker stabilized to 250. Put brisket in the smoker
8:15am   IT 125. Concerned the temp was too high for one hour
9:15am   IT 146
9:30am   Per Hub suggestion, moved probe from point to middle of flat. Temp in flat was 135. Probe must have been in some fat in the point.
10:15am  IT 144
11:15am  IT 155
12:15pm  IT 160
1:15pm    IT 168  Removed from smoker and wrapped in foil. IT dropped to 151 by the time I got it back  in the smoker
2:15pm    IT 205  Removed from smoker (Brisket was in smoker for 6 hours at this time)
2:25pm    Wrapped in towels and placed in cooler
4:00pm    Removed from cooler, sliced and served.  Temp had fallen to 154 when I removed from cooler. Some juice leaked out so must not have sealed the foil tight enough.

I really appreciate all the help and advice so generously given to me by you folks. Hopefully the second time will be even better than this one and other than the salty bark it was great. Will add pics if I can figure out how to do it.

I couldn't figure out how to send a pic except as an attachment. If there is another way I'd appreciate knowing how to do it.
 1st pic  Head Pitmaster, Gus
 2nd pic Brisket after adding salt/pepper rub
 3rd pic  Ready to remove from rack, foil and then return
 4th pic  After removing from cooler and ready to slice
 5th pic  Sliced
 6th pic  Labor day dinner




[attachments deleted after 6 months]

[Pappymn]

Looks like you got some great results. My only comment is I can assure you it wasn't blood you saw. The talent will be by shortly to analyze the post game.

[teesquare]

By no means was Pappy referring to me as "the talent"...but here is what I can offer:

First of all...when I saw the first picture - I instantly had to stand and salute in the direction of College Station.... Gus just made it all the better.

About posting pics: In order tomato pictures permanent to a thread...you will want to set up a photo hosting act. And - all of them I have tried have their strengths and weaknesses - but my favorite thus far is SmugMug.com. Google offers one I think...and there is Photobucket.

Once you have loaded your photos onto a hosting site - you can usually click on an "image" tag or similar ( nomenclature will vary based on which site -)
And - copy it into your thread - and the photo will appear.


Now, about the doneness....Temperature is a good general guide - but the toothpick probing will tell you more than what the temp probe can ever reveal as to doneness. Some just require longer to get those tissues to relax enough. I know this is hard to sell to the spouse or guests but "It's done when it's done" will come to be your mantra.  But - just as another "guesstimate"....8-10 hours is reasonable for a full packer brisket. Yours hit the temps.  - but...leaving it longer would not over cook it most likely.

It is the time at temperature that makes the magic of allowing all of the silver-skin, hard fats, connective tissues and so on to break down, soften, tenderize.....and flavor the meat.

[Subvet]

By no means was Pappy referring to me as "the talent"...but here is what I can offer:

First of all...when I saw the first picture - I instantly had to stand and salute in the direction of College Station.... Gus just made it all the better.

About posting pics: In order tomato pictures permanent to a thread...you will want to set up a photo hosting act. And - all of them I have tried have their strengths and weaknesses - but my favorite thus far is SmugMug.com. Google offers one I think...and there is Photobucket.

Once you have loaded your photos onto a hosting site - you can usually click on an "image" tag or similar ( nomenclature will vary based on which site -)
And - copy it into your thread - and the photo will appear.


Now, about the doneness....Temperature is a good general guide - but the toothpick probing will tell you more than what the temp probe can ever reveal as to doneness. Some just require longer to get those tissues to relax enough. I know this is hard to sell to the spouse or guests but "It's done when it's done" will come to be your mantra.  But - just as another "guesstimate"....8-10 hours is reasonable for a full packer brisket. Yours hit the temps.  - but...leaving it longer would not over cook it most likely.

It is the time at temperature that makes the magic of allowing all of the silver-skin, hard fats, connective tissues and so on to break down, soften, tenderize.....and flavor the meat.

Thx for the photo info.

So I should have left the brisket on until it passed the 'tooth pick' probe test regardless of how high the IT got?

How do I get the point 'done' while not getting the flat 'overdone'?

[smokeasaurus]

Well, your brisket looks great.

I don't sweat the point temp once the flat is cooked because I cube the point and rub em and sauce em and back on the smoker in a foil pan for burnt ends. They come out great and makes up for the point not being up to temp.

Glad the Open Range treated you right 

[tomcrete1]

Plate me up!  Looks great!

[HighOnSmoke]

Brisket looks juicy and delicious!

[Hub]

I'm the one who advised you to monitor the temp in the flat and I'll stick by that -- an overdone flat will just fall apart into hamburger looking stuff (it won't slice).  The point is usually "done" along with the flat but not always, and I didn't add the details on that.  Often, the point is separated from the flat when the flat is done and returned for more cooking -- most often as "burnt ends" (diced pieces, heavily sauced and converted to "cow candy".  Sometimes the point is also sliced, but won't be as pretty (has more internal fat).

Some cooks separate the point and flat and cook them separately, but I discourage that.  Together, they cook better than apart.  Most brisket cooks seek a "full packer" (joined point and flat) because of this fact.  The separation following the flat being done is where I may have mislead you.

Nonetheless, congratulations on a successful first brisket cook    -- If you still have leftover point you can still cook it further without firing up the cooker -- just foil it and put it in the oven at 325 and monitor until you like the texture.

Hub

[muebe]

Great looking smoking ring and looks moist too!

[akruckus]

It looks pretty good to me.  Nice and juicy looking!

My brisket the other weekend, the point was done about an hour before the flat.  I didn't want to separate it but I did to wrap the flat and hopefully get it moving along faster before guests arrived. Never know what you are going to get with a brisket so just have to roll with the punches.  It looks pretty good for your first brisket.  Take notes with timing, problems/solutions, so if you tired a solution and it doesn't work out you make a note of it to try something else.

[Smokin Don]

Yea it does look pretty good for first time and with a stick burner!!! Good job!!! Don

[Subvet]

I'm the one who advised you to monitor the temp in the flat and I'll stick by that -- an overdone flat will just fall apart into hamburger looking stuff (it won't slice).  The point is usually "done" along with the flat but not always, and I didn't add the details on that.  Often, the point is separated from the flat when the flat is done and returned for more cooking -- most often as "burnt ends" (diced pieces, heavily sauced and converted to "cow candy".  Sometimes the point is also sliced, but won't be as pretty (has more internal fat).

Some cooks separate the point and flat and cook them separately, but I discourage that.  Together, they cook better than apart.  Most brisket cooks seek a "full packer" (joined point and flat) because of this fact.  The separation following the flat being done is where I may have mislead you.

Nonetheless, congratulations on a successful first brisket cook    -- If you still have leftover point you can still cook it further without firing up the cooker -- just foil it and put it in the oven at 325 and monitor until you like the texture.

Hub

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I understand what to do next time more than I did on the first one.
Ended up cubing the point, putting on some sauce and sticking in the oven for about an hour and a half. My wife told me it was even better than what we had from the flat.

[RG]

The point is where the action is at. Burnt ends are great! I have never ever cooked on your pit so it will have its nuances but I do think that was a fast cook. I think brisket goes for about an hour a pound in smoking temps (225° to 250°) so I guess you running a little hotter had something to do with the quicker time. Also, keep in mind that meat varies. I've had some butts take an eternity to get done. I recall a 6 pound butt taking 18 hours to have an IT of 195°! Weird!

With all of that said and done, I think you did a fine job for your first time out. Brisket can be intimidating but don't let it be. Practice makes perfect. The only suggestion I have, after seeing this first cook would be to not wrap the next go around, just for comparison sake. I think not wrapping it will give you a deeper color and better bark as well. Some cookers/smokers give you bark much quicker, some take longer to develop. My Kamados take far longer than my KBQ and Traeger. Lastly, try wrapping in butcher paper as opposed to foil should you decide to wrap again.

There is NO wrong way to BBQ. We all have our methods. Some in common, some maybe not so much but we all found what works for us as will you! The road along the way is the fun part

[bamabob]

Looks good from here.
Agree with everyone to monitor temp in the flat.  When it gets to around 195* start probing for doneness.
When the flat is done I'll separate the point from the flat on the cooker using those silicone heatproof food handling gloves.
Wrap the flat for a rest and leave the point on the smoker for more rendering.  It's hard to overcook the point with all the fat in it.
Anymore I end up slicing the point.  I think it has the best beefy taste of the whole cow.
Like RG says, try different things to see what you like.  It will all be good.

[Subvet]

The point is where the action is at. Burnt ends are great! I have never ever cooked on your pit so it will have its nuances but I do think that was a fast cook. I think brisket goes for about an hour a pound in smoking temps (225° to 250°) so I guess you running a little hotter had something to do with the quicker time. Also, keep in mind that meat varies. I've had some butts take an eternity to get done. I recall a 6 pound butt taking 18 hours to have an IT of 195°! Weird!

With all of that said and done, I think you did a fine job for your first time out. Brisket can be intimidating but don't let it be. Practice makes perfect. The only suggestion I have, after seeing this first cook would be to not wrap the next go around, just for comparison sake. I think not wrapping it will give you a deeper color and better bark as well. Some cookers/smokers give you bark much quicker, some take longer to develop. My Kamados take far longer than my KBQ and Traeger. Lastly, try wrapping in butcher paper as opposed to foil should you decide to wrap again.

There is NO wrong way to BBQ. We all have our methods. Some in common, some maybe not so much but we all found what works for us as will you! The road along the way is the fun part

RG, appreciate the comments and suggestion. I also thought the cook was too fast from things I've read on this forum. For the smoker temp I relied on the built-in thermometer which is supposedly very accurate. Next time I am going to use an air probe to monitor the temp.  Also plan on not wrapping as you suggested. Hub told me yesterday to just go with the flow. I'm a guy with a mindset that something is either black or white.  I can see that with smoking meat you have to be flexible!